My mother has this camera, when I didn't have one (currently own an XTi and still want to sell it for an XSi) and it took decent pictures. Zoom is actually not too bad. Being that its 7 megapixels, it does get a bit grainy though and distorted at the digital zoom end. All in all it's not a bad camera. I enjoyed it. It's GREAT for macro, I can tell you that.

cool, any idea whats a good camera for my next step? im thinking a nikon or canon because they seem to be the most popular choice, and i think one nikon is called a d40? and is it true the d40 is better than the d60?

Now-A-Days point and shoots are getting better and better. You can get a decent what they call "DSLR like" camera, meaning it's not quite an SLR but has the qualities of one such as limited control over aperture and shutter speed, ISO, things like that. Most point and shoots are like that but these DSLR like cameras have better control. With that comes a price though, I've seen prices in the 450 dollar range, and what comes to mind is "Why spend 450 on a point and shoot when all you have to do is just look around for a used DSLR body". It depends on your budget. If you have the cash, spend it on an DSLR. I'm not familiar with Nikon at ALL. But yes, a D40 would be a great step up from the S700. In my opinion the S700 will be a great learning tool for the basics, a DSLR will enable you to fully use what you learn. Good luck!

cool, any idea whats a good camera for my next step? im thinking a nikon or canon because they seem to be the most popular choice, and i think one nikon is called a d40? and is it true the d40 is better than the d60?

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This is way to personal of a decision for someone to make for you. But if you want my opinion, all of the camera brands out there now are awesome. But if I was given a choice between a D40 or D60, I'd get the D40, especially when you figure in price.

I've looked at Nikons and they're cool. Canons are awesome, and so are Pentaxes, and Sonys. I am least impressed with Olympus of all the name brands, but only because they are newer (4/3 system is), and they don't have very many lenses out. But if that was not a concern for me, I would put them close to the top of my list.

im confused about the difference between a "point and shoot" and a dslr. is a point and shoot just a normal slr?

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point and shoot is bacially your regular pocket kamera.
Therea are some of the camera now have high quality SLR like capabilities.
They are called prosumer camera in several review.
They have fixed lenses while DSLR have changeable lenses.

In addition, the technical difference between a "point and shoot" versus an SLR or DSLR is the absence or presence of a mirror. In a point and shoot camera, if you look through the viewfinder eyehole (if it even has one), you are not looking through the lens, you're looking through a little hole just above the lens. In an SLR (regardless of it being film or digital), there is a mirror behind the lens which reflects the image coming through the lens up into the viewfinder eyehold so you're actually looking through the lens. This is often abbreviated to "TTL" (through the lens). When the picture is taken, the mirror flips up and out of the way.

But the other major difference is, as mentioned, the ability to change lenses.

The camera you have is an "SLR-Like" camera because it is not compact and has many high end features that an SLR might but it lacks the fundamental things that makes an SLR an SLR: a TTL viewfinder via a mirror and the ability to change lenses. It's a suitable camera for someone starting out as a hobbyist but depending how much you get into photography, you may find you outgrow it and want a DSLR.

In my opinion, there's no sense saving up simply to buy the same level camera of a different brand. If you're saving up, you should be saving for an upgrade - Canon is not necessarily "better" than Fujifilm, it's all about personal preference.